Hope
by Jolteon Master
Summary: Jake, a game tester for the lates Super Smash Bros., has a heart attack and reawakens in the Smash Bros. world. Why was he brought there? What can bring him back?


Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Smash Brothers or any of Nintendo's characters or Sega's etc.

Chapter 1

The Prologue

_Nintendo HQ, America_

In a huge room filled with men and women holding champagne glasses, the head spokesman for Nintendo walks up onto a stage with a podium in the middle.

"Ladies, gentlemen, congratulations we did it. After many, long years of hard work we've finally finished." The room erupted into a cacophony of hi-fives and congratulations.

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl is ready to go." Whistles and yells circled around the room.

"You all were very important but I would like to give a special thanks to our game tester, Jake." More yells and cries, as a young man, aged 20, with dirty brown hair and hazel eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses, walked up to the mic.

"I really don't know what to say, seriously, I had no warning on this." A few chuckles came from the audience. "But I know that the game was awesome, you guys did a great job, and I can't wait to buy my own copy." The audience erupted into appluase for the young tester as the spokesman walked back on.

"Well, Jake, here you go, your first check of 5000 dollars." Jake humbly accepted the check.

* * *

_A mall in New York_

"Dude there is no way that check is for real." This came from Jake's friend Matt. He studied the check, held up to the light.

"Well you better believe it, every single dollars worth." Jake smiled as his friends all gave him back slaps and hi-fives. Two of Jake's best friends were sitting on either side of him. Matt was, although a little overweight, energetic and fun to be around. Then there was Hope, Jake's girlfriend with wavy black hair and a beautiful heart-shaped face.

"How about we get some pizza?" said Hope.

"I'll get them, on me of course." Jake said with a quick wink. "Be right back." Jake stood up and walked to the Pizza Shack, little did he know that those were to be his last words, at least in this world for a while. As Jake walked two figures in another world looked into a circle inlaid in a table that showed Jake purchasing pizza and discussed.

"Do you think he can help us?" said one figure .

"Maybe, although he may help _them_ also." Said the other. "I don't know if it would be worth it."

"Well we'll just have to take that chance." Said the first figure as it flipped a switch on the side of the table. Suddenly pain filled Jake's heart.

"AHHHHH!" Jake screamed as he hit the floor. As he blacked out the last thing he saw were figures running to him.

"Jake! Are you okay? Answer me! Someone call 911!" Hope screamed in distress and fear. Matt ran up beside her and kept her back as paramedics arrived and carried Jake off.

"Hope! You've got to calm down, he'll be fine I promise." Hope couldn't control herself and curled up into a ball, sobbing. Matt looked up at one of his friends standing close by.

"Chip, get your car we've got to hurry to the hospital."

* * *

All Jake could remember were his friends running to him. He kept having dreams of strange, yet familiar figures standing over him and talking in hushed voices.

Then he woke up with a headache and an empty stomach. He could already tell something was strange. Jake opened his eyes to see what looked like a room straight out of Cinderella's castle. King sized bed, pink tapestries, gold trims, and a buffet table with…BREAKFAST! Jake threw off the covers barely noticing the delicate silk patterns that were woven into mushroom shapes. He made his way to the table and carefully examined the food trying to ignore the rumble in his stomach, until he realized he was naked. Thankfully, whoever had put him there had placed dresser filled with suits his size, except the clothing had three strange buttons on the hands and chest area. On the back of the left hand there was a red button, on the back of the right a blue button, and on the chest a pink button. The material was similar to a leotard except gray and was not as skintight.

After studying the suit and himself in a large mirror that stood next to the dresser he turned back to the buffet table still not sure whether or not to trust the food. Who knows what it could be drugged with? But if someone had wanted to drug him wouldn't they have done it while he was unconcious? The debate with himself was starting to make Jake's head hurt. Just on the verge of a total migraine the double door behind him swung open.

"I'm so happy you're awake." The voice was so pure and sweet, it sounded like an angel. Jake turned to see who it was and nearly fell on his face. He must have been looking at one of the most dedicated Princess Peach fans on earth. She looked like a real life Princess Peach from her makeup, to her flowing blonde hair, right down to her bright-red high heels.

"Who are you?"

"Why I'm Princess P. Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, princess of the fifth generation of Peaches to rule this fine kingdom."

"But that's impossible, Princess Peach is a video game character, and the Mushroom Kingdom is a made-up place created by Nintendo."

"Yes, and thanks to our creator we are able to live, for the most part, peacefully here."

All Jake thought was, "_This girl is really dedicated to her character."_ She must have noticed the look of disbelief on Jake's face. She sighed and seemingly floated to a tapestry on the left side of the room.

"If you don't believe me then, please, take a look for yourself." She pulled on a cord next to the tapestry and it swung away revealing a large window. Jake walked up to the window and looked out. He was taken aback at the gently rolling hills far in the distance and the marshmallowy clouds floating on by. But he was shocked by the small town the surrounded the castle. The houses were all mushrooms and as he looked closer he could make out mushroom heads bobbing up and down as Toads went about their day. He stepped away from the window stunned.

"Okay, I believe you. But, how did I get here?" She frowned and looked a bit upset.

"Well, truthfully I don't know but I'm sure the others can help, they are waiting for us." Peach walked briskly down long hallways and made seemingly random turns as Jake tried his best to keep up with her and pay attention to her commentary about the castle and the kingdom. He caught glimpses of castle servants making beds, cooking food, which reminded him that he hadn't eaten yet, and performing other similar chores. Peach finally reached a door that seemed no different than any of the others they had passed. She strode to the door and stood there waiting for Jake. He followed her.

"Brace yourself, it can be a little disorienting at first." With that Peach grabbed the door handle. When it swung in a bright light flooded the hallway, daylight. They didn't walk into another room or a small town with mushroom headed people like he had been expecting. Instead they stepped out onto a small road that led to a huge marble plaza that also had other roads winding away from it leading to other doors that all had different symbols on them. Jake turned back to the door they had just walked through and, sure enough, there was a bright red mushroom looking back at him.

Peach walked quietly in front of him up to a circular marble table that sat in the middle of the plaza with figures sitting around it. Peach led Jake to a seat next to the seat she sat in, a bright pink regal looking chair. Jake looked around in disbelief at all of the video game characters he had grown up with and loved. Some smiled at him politely with other looked at him with a wariness that scared Jake.

Peach nudged Jake. He turned to her and she looked a little embarrassed.

"I just realized I never caught _your_ name." He had to chuckle at her ditziness. "It's Jake." She smiled.

"Jake, I'd like to introduce you to a dear friend of mine, she's gotten me out of more situations than Mario has." A voice, similar to Peach's but calmer and more mature, responded.

"Peach, please, you've been able to watch yourself in a fight or two." Jake's mouth dropped open as he leaned across the table to see Princess Zelda sitting next to Peach in a chair that could only be described as a throne. Her face held a confident smile that radiated wisdom. Jake glanced quickly at her hands and noticed a slight golden glow beneath one of her gloves.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Jake, I'm sorry we have to meet under such unfortunate circumstances."

"Why is it unfortunate?" She looked surprised and looked at Peach who started to blush and suddenly found something to be very interesting in the skirt of her dress.

"I see that Peach has neglected to inform you of the predicament. She can tend to be rather forgetful, when she wants to be." Peach continued to look down at her dress. Zelda sighed and looked back at Jake.

"The circumstances happen to be unfortunate because this is your trial."

* * *

In a hospital room Hope sat with Matt waiting for Jake's parents.

"Don't worry Hope, Jake will be up before you know it." But Hope wasn't so sure, she didn't know why but she felt like she wouldn't be able to talk to Jake for a long time. Jake's parents finally came in.

"How is he?" Jake's mom looked as distraught as Hope was.

"The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him but he's in some sort of coma." Hope told Jake's parents. Jake lay with instruments and IV's attached to him, looking like some sort of broken puppet. It broke his mother's heart to see him like this. While Jake's parents got settled in, Matt decided to take Hope home. On the way there Hope broke down again. Matt did his best to comfort her.

"Hope don't worry everything will be fine."

"How do you know that?" Matt couldn't think of anything to say to that so he kept quiet until they got to Hope's house.

"Try to get some sleep okay?" She walked off sulking. How could she sleep while the only person that truly cared for her was in the hospital unconscious from God knows what? Hope walked like a ghost into her room and lay down staring at the ceiling, trying to ignore the drunken rantings of her parents downstairs.


End file.
